The Awareness Center closed. We operated from April 30, 1999 - April 30, 2014. This site is being provided for educational & historical purposes.
We were the international Jewish Coalition Against Sexual Abuse/Assault (JCASA); and were dedicated to ending sexual violence in Jewish communities globally. We did our best to operate as the make a wish foundation for Jewish survivors of sex crimes. In the past we offered a clearinghouse of information, resources, support and advocacy.

Monday, November 29, 2010

The ACLU has received over 900 complaints from travelers in the United States about the TSA's new pat-downs, providing a unique vantage point on what is taking place at airports around the nation. These complaints came from men, women and children who reported feeling humiliated and traumatized by these searches, and, in some cases, comparing their psychological impact to sexual assaults.

Recurring themes in these reports include:
• The searches are extremely invasive
• Many travelers are reporting intense feelings of violation and humiliation
• Some report being physically hurt by the searches
• Some feel their searches are punitive
• Reports of gawking by agents
• Reports of seemingly unnecessary repeated touching of intimate areas
• Many vow not to fly any more
• Any traveler may be forced to undergo one of these searches

Friday, November 26, 2010

Dr. Orly Innes, is a hero, not only for her work in Israel's National professional staff of the "City without Violence" program, which aims to confront all types of violence on a city-wide level; but for being brave enough to share her identity. By doing this she is showing the world that sexual assault can and does happen to anyone. That those who are sexually victimized are never to blame for the crimes committed against them.

I personally know how difficult that decision can be to go public about being a victim of a sex, especially when you are a public figure. Over a year ago I also went public about being sexually assaulted by my past rabbi's brother, who is a retired college professor and also has smeicha (rabbinic ordination). It's a difficult place, needing to heal, yet also wanting to reach out to others who have been victims of heinous crimes.

A woman accusing a top Israel Police chief candidate of sexual assault and harassment revealed her identity in a press conference on Thursday, in an attempt to use the publicity generated by the case in order to empower victims of sexual assault.

Dr. Orly Innes, known as O. since the case was made public last week, was the first of three women accusing prominent Israel Police Major General Uri Bar-Lev.

"I did nothing wrong and I am not afraid, I came here tonight to say enough – this is me, this is my name, and this is my face," she said. "I am here tonight to represent the generally quiet, scared and hesitant voice of the victims of abuse."

Innes founded, and is part of the national professional staff of the "City without Violence" program, which aims to confront all types of violence on a city-wide level. She received a PhD in social work from Haifa University, writing her thesis on "Moral Messages in Verdicts regarding Violence against Women in Israel between the Years 1970-2000."

Innes also served as a lecturer at Haifa, as well as serving as the advisor for the CEO of the Social Security on strategic planning regarding social policy.

Innes has also served as the manager of the program for treatment of disassociated Haredi youth, and she has served as the deputy CEO of the ministry of social affairs and social services, as well as the coordinator of professional work done with underprivileged youth.

Speaking during a meeting with women who offered their support in recent days, O. discussed her intention to go public, saying her position as a "well-connected member of the establishment" gave her the "strength that other women do not sufficiently possess to come forward."

She said she will now make an effort to "leverage her position in the hopes of putting forth a plan that would offer protection to sex crime victims."

O. said that legislation is needed to limit media reportage of details and accusations about the private life of sex crime victims, similar to the stories that have been published about her past relationships.

"We must formulate a plan that would give victims of sex crimes the legitimacy to come forward," she said. "Society must protect these women and not turn them into punching bags."

Major General Bar-Lev was interrogated for more than seven hours on Wednesday, answering questions regarding the two complaints of sexual offences that have been made against him.

Bar-Lev underwent a polygraph test and was asked questions about an encounter with M. and S. that occurred in a Herzliya hotel five years ago, and about an incident involving O. that occurred in Eilat two years ago.

While connected to a lie-detector, Bar-Lev admitted that he engaged in sexual acts with the complainant M., but denied her claims that he had drugged her. S., a former friend of M., confirmed Bar-Lev's claim that M. had arrived at the hotel of her own free will.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Over the last few weeks we’ve been hearing accusations that several TSA workers have been crossing that narrow line between an ethical pat-down and sexual assault against travelers in airports across the United States.

Steve Wagstaffe, who is the incoming Chief Deputy DA of San Mateo said in a press release that his office “would prosecute TSA employees who engage in lewd and lascivious behavior while conducting Homeland Security mandated pat downs at the San Francisco International Airport in San Mateo County.”

Wagstaffe stated “Any traveler who believes the TSA pat down has crossed into the widely reported groping of "sensitive" personal areas should take note of the TSA staffer's name and badge. The traveler should immediately contact a uniformed state or city police officer found at all screening areas to start an investigation. Additionally, the local district attorney's office should be called if a monitor is not in site.”

It has been suggested by various rape crisis centers across the United States that travelers in other jurisdictions also report these incidences to their local state and city police, in hopes that criminal charges can be brought up against alleged offenders.

If you or someone you know has disclosed what could be described as a sexual assault, contact your local rape crisis center for help. They can also assist you in making police reports, offer you counseling and navigate you through the legal system.

Monday, November 22, 2010

VICKI POLIN: I believe everyone needs to refuse pat downs at airports and find other ways of traveling until our government stops allowing our citizens to be sexually assaulted by TSA workers. This week, several men and women contacted my office, describing situations that would be legally defined as sexual assault. The perpetrators of these assaults were agents of the United States government.The victims of these sex crimes were traveling for work and for pleasure. Some described symptoms of of rape trauma syndrome.

Over the last few years, most of us have been sitting back, watching our civil rights disappear as part of homeland security’s efforts to combat terrorism.

But this week, on the brink of the busy holiday travel season, our government went too far: It is now urging TSA professionals to take pornographic pictures and to commit sexual assaults against our friends and neighbors.

What they don’t realize is that one of every four individuals who travel in airports are survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Some were raped as adults. Does our government not care that their actions are traumatizing those people?

According to every state in our country -- and also under federal law -- it is illegal for an individual to grab, grope or touch our bodies without the explicit permission from the person being touched.

It is also a sexual assault if the individual being touched grants permission under duress.

These are crimes that often mandate a prison sentence -- yet, over the last few days, our government is promoting the sexual assault of its citizens, all in the guise of homeland security, by mandating “enhanced” pat-downs.

If we are not allowed to walk down the streets naked, why is it OK for our government to have strangers frisk us or see through our clothing? What ever happened to our right to privacy?

The next thing you know, they‘ll demand that recording devices (both audio and visual) be placed in our homes, as they did in the former Soviet Union.

How long will we, the citizens of what is supposed to be a “free” country, keep allowing our government to take away our civil rights?

After living in Israel, and seeing firsthand the media hype of terrorism there, the truth is that you are more likely to be hit by a car than by a terrorist.

My body and my personhood are private, and as a citizen of the United States, I should have the right to choose who touches my body and or sees my naked. I'd rather have our government utilize racial profiling prior to flying than allowing TSA personnel to undress and fondle me.

And what about those with children? Do you send your youngster through the radiation of a full body scan just to keep someone’s hands off him or her?

Of those who have been sexually assaulted by the TSA, I wonder: How many are eligible for the Crime Victims Compensation Act, to cover the cost of therapy due the fact they were victims of a sex crime? Funding for the Crime Victims Compensation Act's comes -- you guessed it: the federal government.

A friend in law enforcement recently told me authorities actually discussed an exemption for Muslim women. In fact, many of us who have traveled to the Middle East will joke that when terrorists take vacations with their families, they fly on El Al - the Israeli airline.

That’s because of El Al’s reputation of being able to protect its customers from terrorism. And they don’t need naked body scanners to do it.

The folks at Homeland Security would do well to take some lessons there.--------------

Sexual assault

Definition: sexual contact that is forced upon a person without consent or consent was given under duress or inflicted upon a person who is incapable of giving consent (as because of age or physical or mental incapacity) or who places the assailant (as a doctor) in a position of trust see also rape

Sexual assault in its most serious forms (often classified as first degree sexual assault) involves nonconsensual sexual penetration. In its less serious forms it may be the equivalent of statutory rape.

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

November 9, 1938 - Kristallnacht marks the start of the holocaust. The date in which German and Austrian neighbors stood by and watched as synagogues were torched, how old communities were destroyed and they were silent. They were witnesses to the atrocities, the torture and the degradation of their Jewish neighbors and they looked the other way. Their silence and their ignoring of what was taking place, was the same as direct participation. Thus by the silent support of the German population, and by lack of any real reaction by the rest of the world the Holocaust persisted.

The sexual assault against Dinah marks the start of the on-going attack against Jewish children and adults. The date in which Jewish friends and neighbors stood by and watched how our children were being molested and adult's who were raped, cries for help were ignored. It marks the time in which old communities were destroyed and they were silent. They were witnesses to the atrocities, the torture and the degradation of their Jewish children and they looked the other way. Their silence and their ignoring of what was taking place, was the same as direct participation. Thus by the silent support of the Jewish population, and by lack of any real reaction by the rest of the world this continues.

Please keep The Awareness Center in mind when making your monthly contributions. Every dollar donated helps revive the lives of those who have been sexually victimized, and makes a difference in the generations to come.

The Awareness Center, Inc.

P.O. Box 4824

Skokie, IL 60076

To make a donation using a credit card, click here and then click on the donate button:

Over the last ten years there's been so much emphasis and media attention on cases of clergy sexual abuse - with the perpetrators being priests, pastors, monks and rabbis - that we seem to be forgetting that forty-six percent of cases of child sexual abuse are perpetrated by family members. We also cannot forget that according to statistics girls get molested two to three times more often then boys -- or that the effects and long-term ramifications are just as horrendous as their male counterparts.

Over the last twenty-six years of my involvement in the Anti-Rape movement I have to admit that I have been amazed at seeing so many male survivors coming forward with their disclosures of child molestation. Even Oprah's on to the male survivor bandwagon, producing two shows on the topic of male survivors of sexual abuse; which will air on November 5th and 12th.

My concern is that girls and adult women who are survivors of child sexual abuse seem to be getting lost in this new shuffle. I have also noticed an altering of history from some survivor groups in which they are forgetting the roots of the Anti-Rape movement. Advocating for survivors of sex crimes did not get it's start in 2002, with the Boston Globe's exposé on the Catholic Church. We cannot forget that if it wasn't for several brave women joining together in consciousness raising groups back in the early 1970's, we would have no idea about how many people were being molested as children, or how many adult men and women were being assaulted.

Why is it that even in 2010 we want to forget the value of the feminist movement? If it wasn't for the brave heroes of the 1970's getting together and sharing personal details of their lives we would never have been able to offer hope and support to those who had been sexually victimized. We would not have begun to educate the public on the issues and ramifications of rape nor would research that effects more then a quarter of the population of the world have been started.

How quickly we want to forget that back on January 24, 1971 the New York Radical Feminists sponsored the very first gathering to discuss sexual violence as a social issue. April 12, 1971 was the historic moment in which for the first time in history there was a gathering of survivors -- all women, who created the very first "speak-out" -- where they shared their personal stories publicly; and over 300 people attended.

I personally got my start in the Anti-Rape Movement back in 1985 working for one of the first incest survivor organizations. During the early years it was mostly only women who came forward sharing stories of child molestation. For the last 12 years of my work has been focusing in Jewish communities on an international basis. I have been amazed to see this same phenomenon happening within the orthodox world. Female survivors of sexual abuse have been taking a back seat to their male counter part. For every 10 males who come forward, there is only one woman willing to share her story, come forward and begin the healing process..

I have also encountered some discrimination at workshops and or with other organizations that have been popping up in the Jewish world; the leaders are all male. I have been told that they believe women are too emotional to be a part of the movement, let alone to speak out publicly. I understand the cultural differences of the Orthodox world in which it is frowned upon for a woman to speak or educate men in public for reasons of modesty, yet why are they not coming out speaking to each other? Will they really loose value as a person if it's known that they were victims of a sex crime? Do we really have to put the shame and blame on them for the actions of a sexual predator?

--Vicki Polin authored this article. Polin is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and the founder and director of The Awareness Center, Inc., which is the international Jewish Coalition Against Sexual Abuse/Assault

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Survivors ARE Heroes!

The Awareness Center believes ALL survivors of sex crimes should be given yellow ribbons to wear proudly.

Survivors of sexual violence (as adults and/or as a child) are just as deserving of a yellow ribbon as the men and women of our armed forces, who have been held captive as hostages or prisoners of war.

Survivors of sexual violence have been forced to learn how to survive, being held captive not by foreigners, but mostly by their own family members, teachers, camp counselors, coaches babysitters, rabbis, cantors or other trusted authority figures.

For these reasons ALL survivors of sexual violence should be seen as heroes!